Bears sign Jared Allen

In one of the most surprising signings in free agency to date, the Bears have acquired Jared Allen.

Allen, the former Vikings star, was widely believed to be nearing a deal with the defending champion Seahawks. Instead, he’ll stay in the NFC North but head south to Chicago.

“We are extremely happy for Jared, his wife Amy, our fans and the Chicago Bears that Jared has agreed to terms,” Bears G.M. Phil Emery said in a statement.

On the Bears’ defense, Allen serves as the replacement for Julius Peppers, who departed for the Packers in free agency.

The 31-year-old Allen may not be quite the complete, all-around player he was a few years ago. But he’s still a very good pass rusher, having recorded 11.5 sacks last season. The Bears know that Allen can get after the quarterback, and now they want him doing it in Chicago eight games a year.

He will get his sacks but they won’t come when it matters. He disappears for long stretches and he struggled playing on grass surfaces. Bears must have given him more $$$$ than Seattle, I guess winning wasn’t as important as $$$$

cutlersecondchin says:Mar 26, 2014 8:53 AM

Excellent, I was hoping this would happen. Need to see the cap number though before I fully embrace it.

jamezz23 says:Mar 26, 2014 8:54 AM

This is crazy, the best ends in the north will be in Detroit tho, looking for Ziggy to improve a ton from his solid rookie year and Jason Jones to get healthy, and Devin Taylor to come into his own. Its gonna be interesting tho. He’s far from the Jared Allen of old, but he can still get you about one time a game

As a Bears fan I would make the Peppers/Allen swap 10 out of 10 times at this point in their careers. I think the Bears got the better end of the deal as well. Allen is 2 years younger and stays hungry every play unlike Peppers.
What was the worst D line in the NFC North just became the best with Allen, Houston and Young.
Sounds like a Law firm that will be bringing QB’s to justice!!
Go Bears!!

The bears will never go to the Super Bowl. Why do these guys keep going to loosing teams. Stupid not to go to Seattle. They will win the super brown. He’s made the money but will NEVER get a ring. Another bad decision by a good player

Can’t wait to see AP finally get stuffed…by Jared Allen of all people!

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I’m sure Ap will be licking his chops at running left all game. Allen is not known for run stuffing ability. He chases quarterbacks… sometimes to a fault. He often over pursues leaving the left side of the field wide open. He was a great Viking… No hard feelings

whatnojets says:Mar 26, 2014 8:57 AM

Jerry Jones didn’t see this coming…..Maybe he was busy talking about another losing season in Dallas

oldcracker says:Mar 26, 2014 8:58 AM

Good for the Bears!

My wife is from the southside and a White Sox & Bears fan. Now, when the Bears win the NFC-N, she will be quite happy. And, with a happy wife, you have a happy life. Go Bears!

In the end, I guess money was more important than the chance to win a championship.

gbmickey says:Mar 26, 2014 8:59 AM

Hahaha the poor Viking fans, Allen wanted out and they lose their best defensive player who wants to stick it to them. To think they had about the most money in free agency, way to build that dynasty Spieladope.

I see the logic here. He’d rather go 7-9 than 2-14. Good luck Mr. Allen. I know it would’ve been too difficult for you to join a Seattle defense where you would’ve been surrounded by stars instead of the spotlight all on you. No hard feelings.

Hmmmm any team facing Bears D. Play one – run left at Jared, Play two – run at Jared, play three – run at Jared. forth play of the drive – screen over Jared TD!

higheriqthanyou says:Mar 26, 2014 9:07 AM

Two observations:

1 Bear’s again over paid for the chrome air filter on a blown engine

2 Allen isn’t a player who values wins.

rpiotr01 says:Mar 26, 2014 9:07 AM

Good move for the Bears, just like picking up Peppers was a good move for GB. Clearly on the downside of his career, but still very productive. Reset expectations a little, limit his snapsand he should do well for them.

He doesn’t have to be the Jared Allen from several years ago. The defense only has to be average, because the offense will run up the points. How many teams scored more than the Bears last year? One? Maybe two?

It will be interesting to see how the season plays out in this division. The Bears look like they are going to field a strong team this year. If they can do something to bring their defense up to even average they could be dangerous with an offense that is as potent as the one they have.

The Vikings should have a very solid defense with Zimmer coming in and locking everything down, but their offense is a questionmark until the quarterback situation is figured out.

Green Bay feels like their window is closing. Yes, they have Aaron Rodgers, and he is very good. However, their offensive line has been a concern and their skill players haven’t been able to stay healthy. It also would appear that Capers isn’t adding enough to his defense from year to year and teams have figured out the concepts.

Detroit is Detroit. They have enough talent that you assume they’d breeze through the division. Their defensive line is down right scary, they have Megatron, and with a running game that works they should be able to put up points. They just seem to shoot themselves in the foot, over and over.

One poster already mentioned it, but JA’s style is much more effective on turf/quality footing, now he moves to the worst turf in the NFL.

He is still an above average pass rusher, but unlike earlier in his career you don’t always need to double him to take him out of a play.

Last, for those in Bear country expecting elite run stopping ability from him, my guess is MN will do two things run right at him, show misdirection, and go back to his side, the one thing I won’t miss is seeing him bite on the inside, or right side fake, loss contain then the play is a big gainer to his side – he does this way to much for a supposed elite DE!

It may not be the rebuilt on the rise defense that I’d really like to have (who wouldn’t) but the bears defense has a lot of veteran talent now. Particularly up front where the leagues worst run defense is surely a thing of the past and we have a legit pass rush back

If the free agents we brought in at safety can deliver something then there aren’t many holes.

Plus with an offense that is sorted for both now and future in most positions we can afford to use picks on defense. Come on down new safety, DT and probably LB or CB all in the first few rounds

ialwayswantedtobeabanker says:Mar 26, 2014 9:16 AM

Ya gotta give Jared Allen a LOT of credit. The guy was a hard partying wild man in his early KC years — and he took full responsibility, owned it and then, had the internal fortitude and character to clean it up and ball out.

Add a few very capable defensive free agents and some fresh blood in the draft to replace that DISGUSTING never to be mentioned again 2013 defense.

What do you get? 2014 NFC Champs and Super Bowl Baby!!

jerrykill4pres says:Mar 26, 2014 9:16 AM

For the seattle fans whining about Jared signing with Da Bears, saying it was money and not about a championship…. I hate to break it to ya. But Chicago isn’t a cream puff team.

With the signings Seattle has made, I don’t see them repeating this year. Probably not even close. Russell Wilson is a serviceable QB, but not great. They better concentrate on Offense pretty soon over there. Or they might stop the other team from moving the ball, but they won’t move it themselves.

Trestman has that team turned around and looking pretty good. And Jared is only 31… He’s not closing in on 40. He still has a couple of years left in the tank. And I don’t see why he can’t have double digit sacks for a few more years. Especially against the Pack!

But-but…according to the Seattle fans on this site, I thought Jared was actually going to pay Seattle to play for them because, you know…they’re guaranteed to win the Super Bowl for the next couple years!?! As a Vike’s fan, of course I hate me some Packer fans. But lately, the disdain level for Seattle fans is right up there thanks to the Seahawks fans on this site….well done!!!

Wow…this is interesting. Makes me wonder if the Packers would’ve gone after Allen if the Peppers deal didn’t go through. I can’t wait to see the relative performances of each player. My money is on Peppers (surprise!)

Carl Gerbschmidt says:Mar 26, 2014 9:20 AM

I guess when you play that many years with the Vikes, you get used to no Super Bowl rings, so it then becomes about the money.

lol!!! all the Seahawks fans sound a little hurt bcuz he didn’t sign with them. I’m a Cowboys fan and it doesn’t bother me and I lol at all the Cowboys comments on here it shows that we fuel the fire that burns you haters whether we win or lose! GO COWBOYS!!!

billh1947 says:Mar 26, 2014 9:21 AM

“Suddenly that horrid defense of 2013 is just a thing of the past”.
Do you really believe Allen is better than Peppers who was on that horrid defense? no way he is better,the Bears defense will still be horrid,count on it.

iowamiah says:
Mar 26, 2014 9:14 AM
Some props need to go to Cutler for agreeing to rework his contract and make room for such a move. Bring on the Cutler haters!

=============================

Not a Cutler hater at all but he took a signing bonus to change the cap down 4 mil next year but up 1 mil the next 4 after that. Didn’t change the guaranteed money as far as I can tell.

Either way Cutler’s contract is both good for him and sensible. It’s 18mil per yer for 3 years guaranteed then after that it’s not. If he regresses he gets 3 years of a big pay day and then can choose what to do after that. If he gets better he’s still getting great money after that and they can change it then.

It’s typical of the modern NFL contracts, where you get 2-3 years of guaranteed money at a great rate and after that you’ll either earn it and stay around or be cut. Denver did all their free agent contracts similarly.

Let me see if I understand this… the Bears had one of the worst run defenses in the league last year so they go out and sign Jared Allen? A guy who wants absolutely nothing to do with stopping the run. Yeah great signing Chicago. I look forward to AP running at Allen all day long.

monctonvike says:Mar 26, 2014 9:23 AM

Great pick up by the bears, I think he has a great year. No disrespect intended but I don’t think the signing makes the Bears an instant contender. The Bears are a very good team and might make the playoffs. Once you are in you never know.

Allen comes off as a bit of a hypocrite the Vikes honored there contract and paid him huge money last year. The Seahawkes wanted him they just won a SB if he really wanted to just play for a contender he would have signed there.

The Bears are likely paying him more and letting stay in the division or get revenge either way it does not seem to about playing for a contender.

Best of luck Allen, thanks for all the great years and memories!

ps Hope Khalil, Felton and Peterson flatten you about 30 times a game

khmer379 says:Mar 26, 2014 9:23 AM

As long as it ain’t with the Packers or Seahawks am fine.. And as for Allen stuffing AP haha that a good one you mean Matt Kalil stuffing Allen and good luck getting sack with that horrible field he’ll be lucky to reach 10 sacks

fredventurini says:Mar 26, 2014 9:24 AM

I like it how the haters say “Well the Bears run defense just got worse with the Allen signing.”

The defense was historically bad last season, giving up the most yards per play in over 40 years. You could run the same lineup out there and they would probably be better just because it’s almost impossible to be any worse. I think saying that these acquisitions are going to make their defense worse or keep them at a horrid historical level just aren’t convincing. And where is this talk that Allen is in decline coming from? 11.5 sacks? Productivity is still there and he’s 2 years younger than Peppers. If you ask me they got a bargain for a 10 sack player.

Even if their defense gets up to 15th or so in the NFL with these moves, their offense is going to be top 5 (not hard to expect that, year 2 in a system that is obviously working at the NFL level, rookies on the line improving, etc). That’s a recipe for a competitive team that can get hot at the right time and make a run. What more do you want as a fan?

I absolutely love the moronic Seahawk fans who seem to assume they are guaranteed a championship next season. Saying he has no chance at a championship now is laughable.
Yes, Seattle will still have the better defense, with or without Allen. But the Bears offense is also light years ahead of Seattle’s. With the signings the Bears have made their defense is greatly improved. We also know they’ll be going defense early and often in the draft to help improve it even more.
This wasn’t based solely on money folks, he obviously feels the Bears have a legit chance at winning and anyone with any football acumen should know that.

ghost26 says:Mar 26, 2014 9:26 AM

I honestly don’t know why the Packers or the Broncos didn’t sign Allen. I believe he has more left in the tank than either Peppers or Ware.

I don’t have a dog in this fight so I can say this w/o any bias–the Bears definitely improved their team w/ this signing. The Packers, the Vikings, & the Lions are going to have to account for this guy or he’ll wreck your QB.

For all the ‘he didn’t choose Seattle’ comments, remember, Chicago’s offense is LIGHT YEARS ahead of Seattle’s. Yes, Seattle had the better defense last year and will again this year, but the Bears with an average defense and a stellar offense is just as good as Seattle with a stellar defense and an average offense. Plus you could say the NFC North is an easier path to the playoffs than the NFC West at this point.

Despite winning the SB last year the NFL is still all about offense. I will guarantee you that Seattle won’t be as dominant on defense this year as last. It’s almost impossible to be with the way the rules are designed.

yeah that Cutler deal has turned out to be really bad one for the bears hasn’t it? I mean they haven’t had any money to sign free agents since he inked that deal right? suddenly that horrible defense does not look so bad does it?

Nothing Better than seeing all the haters bash this move…Bears now have some serious depth on what was an awful line last year…..plus they will be adding another stud tackle or safety in the draft at # 14. with one of the top 5 offenses in the game right now…team is a legit contender….so keep bashing rest of the NFC North – id be worried also – Bear Down!

As a Bear fan, I love this signing…he may have lost a step but what he possess in experience is invaluable.

The Bears D, and the off season signings, have just become a lot better. Just look at what Emery did with the offensive line last year, put a lineman in the pro bowl, and he is doing the same for the D.

not too bright by chic. allen is a shell of his former self. and ask any vikings fan who will tell you it isn’t big loss because he was shut down by good tackles and vanished in big games.

jared allen, demarcus ware, julius peppers…old defensive players who are running on fumes. bad deals for their new teams. 3 of the worst signings in FA…along with decker to jets. a glorified #3 receiver. a mannequin could catch 50 passes from p manning.

Its funny to me how so many people say he chose money over winning. He chose both. Why is everyone so quick to assume Seattle or San Fran are coming out of the NFC. As far as I remember Seattle didn’t go undefeated last year. Teams were able to beat them. Same with SF. Yea Seattle won the super bowl, but teams don’t repeat that often in the NFL. Teams are gunning for Seattle. They are going to know how to attack that defense. Seattle’s offense is nothing that scares anyone.

Chicago has a legit offense. Number 2 in scoring last year. They will only get better in year 2 of Trestman’s system. Emery is doing a great job rebuilding this defense. Adding youth but keeping veterans who want to win. He’s not over spending either. Bears defense is a few players away from becoming really good again. Theya re already better than last year. The only thats stopping this team right now is injuries. If they stay healthy I don’t see why they couldn’t win a super bow. #BEARDOWN

teal379 says:Mar 26, 2014 9:56 AM

For those saying they don’t understand why GB went for Peppers instead of Allen, here’s a tidbit.

GB has played both those guys for a while. Peppers has and recently, been the bigger problem for them.

GB’s ROOKIE left tackle, a guy GB drafted to be a BACKUP right GUARD kept Allen COMPLETELY out of the box score last year. No tackles, no sacks, no pressures – NOTHING in his 7th NFL game EVER in the dome, on the turf.

So, as a team, do you go after the guy who’s a 4-3 DE with no run ability, can be stuffed by a rookie LT that was drafted to be a 2nd or third string RG and really is about the money more than wins or do you get the guy your DL coach already knows and coached when he came into the league, doesn’t have to play every down, makes more sense at OLB in an Elephant or Leo position and is available for less money?

This is why Ted Thompson and the Packers have only missed the playoffs two or three times in the last 20 years (that’s a generation).

As a Seahawks fan I’m not hurt. He’s clearly about the money and the money only, even after making $73 million from the Vikes.

The good news is he’ll have a nice view of us in the playoffs.

From his recliner.

fredventurini says:Mar 26, 2014 9:59 AM

Players have more choices than Seattle and New England to compete. Parity rules. If someone said next year’s Super Bowl would be the Colts and the Lions, you’d be surprised, right? But almost no matchup is “shocking” in today’s NFL. Six seeds have won, and worst to first division winners are routine.

By the way, New England hasn’t won a Super Bowl in a decade. They’re not the default choice for ring chasers.

By the way, New England hasn’t won a Super Bowl in a decade. They’re not the default choice for ring chasers.

While this is true, simply saying “they haven’t won a Super Bowl in a decade” to dismiss them conveniently brushes over the fact that they’ve been 1 catch away from winning 2 Super Bowls since 2007 and have played in 5 of the past 8 AFC Championship Games and have been in at least the Divisional Round 7 of the past 9 seasons. Being right there every year is more attractive than team that fluctuate between 10-6 and 6-10 every year.

Stopping the run isn’t all about one player. If Briggs and Williams stay healthy, they don’t have to worry as much about it. If they can upgrade to safeties that don’t bite on every move a running back makes, they’ll be that much better. No one expects Allen to fix the run defense, they expect him to rush the passer.

So the Bears and Vikings once again prove that Ted Thompson has no idea what he’s doing in free agency. Good luck in the windy city Jared! He may not get a ring, but he’s going to look awesome in a Bears uniform. Vince Lombardi is a joke compared to the great George Halas.

The Trolls have awakened this morning to the reality that is the Bears and Jared have just flipped the bird to the Packers and the She-hawks. Julius Peppers and Michael Bennett signings are NOT so grand now……..Welcome to Chicago Jared!!!

Hearing a lot of sour grapes from the Seahawks fans. NFL has a trend of SB winners making early exits from or missing the playoffs completely. So, IMO Jared Allen decided he wanted to play on a team that is well balanced and the defense doesn’t have to carry the team on their backs. Good signing for the Bears allows them to move Lamarr Houston inside to hide natural position and frees up the Bears to draft the best available talent when the get on the clock.

clayshair says:Mar 26, 2014 10:40 AM

Glad to see the Bears getting younger on defense….Now he can feel whats it like to lose to the pack twice a year in a bears jersey -

That Sucks!! I’m an Eagles fan, but I was hoping he signed in Seattle. I wanted to see just how good that defense could be with Jared added in the mix… They’ll just double him with the Bears. He won’t have as much of an impact with them.

Ummmm…. Great signing Bears. Allen is a very good player. Against the Packers Rookie Left Tackle last year he was 0 Tackles and 0 sacks in the first meeting (At home on turf) and 2nd meeting 4 solo tackles and 0 sacks (In Green Bay on Grass). Way to show the rookie who’s boss Allen!!!

PS
Frazier28/7 says:
“Lombardi is a joke compared to George Halas”

Both were incredible men of their time. It’s interesting then who the Super Bowl trophy is named after. If I recall they call it the “Lombardi” trophy NOT Halas trophy

What a greedy mullet sportin turd. im glad it was da bears that overpaid for him, not Seattle. Oh well

ratsfoiledagain says:Mar 26, 2014 11:01 AM

shatho1 says:
Mar 26, 2014 9:20 AM
lol!!! all the Seahawks fans sound a little hurt bcuz he didn’t sign with them. I’m a Cowboys fan and it doesn’t bother me and I lol at all the Cowboys comments on here it shows that we fuel the fire that burns you haters whether we win or lose! GO COWBOYS!!!
**********
Win or lose, the Cowboys do not have fuel of any amount that could light a match, let alone a fire of any size, that matters to fans outside of Dallas.

as a Vike’s fan I’m bummed to see him go. I wish the Vikings wanted to pay him, at least for a couple more years.
Best of luck to him, he was a fun player to have on our team and no matter what you think of him he makes things interesting.

philtration says:Mar 26, 2014 11:04 AM

Norseman says:
Mar 26, 2014 10:13 AM
I’m sure the Bears paid Jared more than Seattle would, and in the end he took money over a potential Super Bowl ring.

Didn’t Alan Page play his last year in Chicago as well?
===================================

Page played 3 1/2 seasons for the Bears.
If the Bears defense had been just average last season they would have walked away with the division since Denver is the only team in the NFL that scored more points.
They are going to score points again this season and have already improved their D so acting as if they Allen walked away from a sure Super Bowl ring to play for a dog team is dumb at best.

The Seahawks are no lock to even win their own division and the Bears are far from being a bad team.

I grew up just outside of Chicago and moved to the Twin Cities in the early 70s. I pull for the Bears whenever they’re not playing my Vikes.

Jared Allen is a class act and I’m glad he landed with a team I still enjoy.
*********************************************
Traitor !!

philtration says:Mar 26, 2014 11:11 AM

claymaker says:
Mar 26, 2014 10:54 AM

PS
Frazier28/7 says:
“Lombardi is a joke compared to George Halas”

Both were incredible men of their time. It’s interesting then who the Super Bowl trophy is named after. If I recall they call it the “Lombardi” trophy NOT Halas trophy
===================================

I agree that Halas & Lombardi were both great but the Super Bowl trophy was named after Lombardi because he had just died.
Halas won more games, won more titles, produced more Hall of Famers and started the league.
He even loaned the Packers money when they were about to fold and he helped raise money for the construction of Lambeau Field.
As great as Vince was, George was the bigger giant in the NFL.

Well, if the Persian Prince was able to block him, he obviously couldn’t have been trying.

jimmydixx12 says:Mar 26, 2014 11:23 AM

Says no to the ‘Hawks? I guess Jared was afraid of needles – on the upside, he’ll get to play in front of some REAL, tried & true fans in Chicago as opposed to the ones masquerading as such in SEA.

ratsfoiledagain says:Mar 26, 2014 11:27 AM

dbara43 says:
Mar 26, 2014 9:58 AM
As a Seahawks fan I’m not hurt. He’s clearly about the money and the money only, even after making $73 million from the Vikes.

The good news is he’ll have a nice view of us in the playoffs.

From his recliner.
**********
I’m a Seahawk fan, and yes, you do seem bitter. Your comments state so. You’re getting worked up over a decision you had no influence over.

From reports it seemed Sea/Dallas were the only two interested, publicly at least. He didn’t sign with Seattle after two visits/talks. I’m thinking Seattle wasn’t offering more than two years but, that’s speculation on my part.

It seems Chicago came out of left field to sign him. Congrats Chicago!

Only GB fans would think Vikings fans are mad at this. Packer fans bad mouth every player that leaves their dump city. We loved Jared Allen. He played out his whole contract without complaint. He earned his money. No hard feelings at all. He’s still a good player, and the Bears are better with him. I wish him luck, but not when he plays the Vikings.

gbmickey says:Mar 26, 2014 11:28 AM

Hey Frazier you might want to change the username since you have now become a Bear fan. Typical Viking poster either go into hiding or jump on board another team since their own team has nothing to look forward to, bandwagon fans.

I love all of the people on here saying that since Allen didn’t sign with the Seahawks that means he doesn’t care about getting a Super Bowl ring.

What’s so gallant about going to a team that’s already won a Super Bowl and hoping to ride their coat tails to your own ring?

Does it ever occur to anyone that maybe a guy who’s used to being a standout player and a team leader would rather try and go to a team where he might be part of the REASON they win a championship instead of a role player on a team capable of winning without him?

And if it was partly about the money, so what? The man has earned the right to be paid.

duece5 says:Mar 26, 2014 11:30 AM

Carl Gerbschmidt says: Mar 26, 2014 9:11 AM

meh… Green Bay has been shutting Allen down the past 6 years, might as well for the next 4. Jared Allen, meet Eddie Lacy.

His decision was based partially on the fact that he could finally body slam Christian Ponder.

pleazenufalready says:Mar 26, 2014 11:34 AM

Carl Gerbschmidt says: Mar 26, 2014 9:11 AM

meh… Green Bay has been shutting Allen down the past 6 years, might as well for the next 4. Jared Allen, meet Eddie Lacy.

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As usual, “Carl”, you’re dead wrong on your stats. In the last 6 seasons (that’s 12 games for the mathematically challenged), Allen has 15.5 sacks against the packers…….hardly qualifying as being “shut down”

purpleguy says:Mar 26, 2014 11:40 AM

Good guy, still has skills, and is a huge upgrade over Peppers — congrats Bears fans.

ejmat2 says:Mar 26, 2014 11:41 AM

chieftaindawg says:
Mar 26, 2014 9:03 AM
Wow.That’s like leaving the 1990′s Red Sox for the 1990′s Yankees. To win. Vikes are years away from contending.
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Years??? I suppose by your penname you are a Chief fan. If true would you have said in 2012 the Chief’s were close to winning?

Things change year in and year out. Any team is capable of turning around at any given time. If the Vikes get more consistent (maybe a big IF) and the defense improves as I believe it will, they can compete as early as this coming year. After all they made the playoffs in 2012.

“rextraordinaire says: Mar 26, 2014 8:49 AM
Jared Allen goes from the Vikings to the Bears
Julius Peppers goes from the Bears to Packers
Corey Wooton goes from the Bears to the Vikings
Israel Idonije goes from the Lion back to the Bears

I’m noticing a pattern here.”
===========================================
No one wants to go to the Lions?

Guess we know he’s definitely not chasing after a SB ring!!!!
Good luck loser!!!

deke952 says:Mar 26, 2014 11:51 AM

He made a living playing on artificial turf and getting a jump in a loud dome. Will be interesting to see if he can do it in the slop of a turf they call Soldier Field. And then the Bears will wear him out by playing him every down, like they tried to do with Peppers.

Lombardi was bigger than football, and people outside of the sport know the legend of Vince. In fact, he might be the most famous coach all time from any sport. Nevertheless, they are both giants of the game that tower majestically over any of the obscure Viking “greats”.

Isn’t it possible on 1st and 10 that Hoiston and Young play ends. 2nd and short, they stay in. 2nd and long, and 3rd down Allen comes in?? I wouldn’t be shocked to see Bears tweak D every game depending on opponent, and go from there. Emery and Trestman are forward thinkers. I know most can’t grasp that and only live in past

Now, before some rube starts talking about how Matthews was hurt last year, that’s kind of the point. If you can’t stay healthy, you aren’t worth the money. Matthews has had one year in his CAREER where he played in 16 games.

I will always root for Jared Allen. Sure he just joined my teams rival, but he was great to the Vikings. Unlike packer fans, Viking fans are grateful for players that contributed so much to a franchise even if they join a rival team.

fb96 says:Mar 26, 2014 12:10 PM

Allen actually has more sacks per game on grass surfaces throughout his career than on turf. The contract is a 4 year–but guaranteed for two. He’s not the complete player he once was–but he does make the defensive line better.

Just saw the contract…wow. He loaded some money into his bank account. no wonder he chose Chicago. I would have liked to see him on a defense like seattles that can get him more time to rush the quarterback, but I doubt Seattle offered him even half of what Chicago offered him.

What is weird is he said he wants to play for a championship contender. Chicago is not anything close to that. Green Bay runs the division. Chicago is completely incapable of beating the packers, especially in the important games. Chicago to me, is not much of an upgrade over Minnesota. Vikes will beat the packers atleast once in a while. Bears get steam rolled every year. Oh, unless Rodgers is out. Which does not count.

Jared chose money over a contender. Nothing wrong with that, but it would have been cool to see him on that Seahawk defense.

teal379 says:
Mar 26, 2014 9:56 AM
This is why Ted Thompson and the Packers have only missed the playoffs two or three times in the last 20 years (that’s a generation).
———————–
First of all, you think your team signed Peppers over Allen because of a single game from 2013? Yes, I’m sure your GM is that dumb.

Second of all, your team has missed the playoffs 5 times in the last 20 years. And before that? They missed the playoffs for 10 straight years, and 23 of 25 years!! So, they’ve missed the playoffs what, 62% of the time in the last two generations?

Go back to screaming “13 championships” and drinking your turpentine, and leave the intelligent football talk to those of us that actually have computers and bother to look up the real numbers.

This is a good signing for him. He can keep his lifestyle in MN and go play for a team that is like 6 hours away driving and less by plane. I just want to know the money to see if MN shot themselves in the foot for not keeping him.

ejmat2 says:Mar 26, 2014 12:36 PM

Pure projection from a Packer fan. See unlike Favre who really did want to stick it to the Packers, Allen wanted to play for a contending team and make what he could. His intent is not to stick it to the Vikings. Whereas that WAS Favre’s true reason for wanting to play for the Vikings.

ejmat2 says:Mar 26, 2014 12:39 PM

kev86 says:
Mar 26, 2014 8:48 AM
This must make Viking fans sick. Wow
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Speaking for myself, not really. I’m happy he is still able to play the NFL. He’s a hard worker and plays the game the way it should be. I don’t care if it’s the Bears, Packers or whomever. I still wish him luck!

Goes to show how much he did not want to play for Seattle, used them to get leverage, Allen is a high character guy and did not want to be a part of Seattle and their cheating ways, he doesn’t have to take ped’s or hold and pass interference on every play to be considered a great defensive player. Good choice Jared.

as a vikes fan it’s tough to see this guy go. he has lots left in the tank but the vikes didn’t want to pay him. at least he didn’t go to seattle. Jared Allen will always be a viking and probably will be a HOFer with the Vikings. no hard feelings unlike another team i know…cough cough, favre, cough, cough, packers, cough.

larryboodry says:Mar 26, 2014 12:49 PM

thetruthcampaign says: Mar 26, 2014 9:44 AM

“No matter what, the Lions were still the best run D in the NFC North last year.”

Too lazy to look that up, but so what? You still finished behind the Packers and Bears.

As for Allen joining Chicago, I didn’t see that coming, since all the talk centered around Seattle and Dallas.

I gotta love all the bitter Seahawks fans crying that he chose money over a ring. First of all, there is no guarantee that Seattle will even sniff a SB this year, and second of all, the Bears have a much better offense than Seattle and their defense is much improved over last year. (Hard not to be, but still.)

We still need help at safety, despite the guys we’ve signed in FA, and I too wish McCown had stayed put.

Am I predicting a SB here? No. But the Bears are much closer to that goal than they were a month ago, and I’m curious to see what Emery does with that #14 overall pick.

Go Bears!

seals1 says:Mar 26, 2014 12:57 PM

What’s wrong with Allen hitting one more big deal?

It will hurt to lose Allen but that 18 million from last year off the books got the Vikes a young D-End, a pair of D Tackles and Corner. Money back filled some much needed holes so the Vikings needed to walk away.

Good Luck 69, you will be still be held high with Purple Fans. See you at TCF this Fall and hopefully you leave the rope at home. I still want to see you take Rogers down a few more times so we will be watching.

therussellwilsonshow says:Mar 26, 2014 1:04 PM

A few things from a Hawks fan. After watching some tape, I was very excited that Seahawks had a chance to add Allen for reasonable money on short term deal. I heard that Hawks offer was 2 yrs for $12M. I would have been very happy to add #69 to our D on that deal. At 32yo, he proly still would have been a monster in Hawks D line rotation playing 1/2 to 2/3 of snaps… in front of the 12 noize.

First reports from Bears are 4 yrs for $32M. I wouldn’t want Hawks to have made that offer. Happy for Allen and Bears fans, but Hawks can’t afford that deal and glad we didn’t. I doubt Bears pay him 4th year at 36yo, but they still paid top market value IMO.

Bears Offense may be great and put up big numbers. I like Jay Cutler and would love to see Bears win NFC North (no love for Packers or AR), but so far your QB still makes mistakes and hasn’t been clutch when needed. Hawks have a tough road out of NFCW, but we can survive without points because of our D and RW doesn’t make huge game losing blunders (so far).

As for comments that Allen didn’t fit Seattle hippy/coffee culture: complete BS. Hawks are the team of the entire NW, Alaska, and BC. That’s a lot of hunters and potential Jared fans. He would have been huge in Hawk Nation. Just sayin, urban Seattle does not define the entire fan base

Best of luck to Jared Allen and the Bears this year! I’d love the Bears to make a post-season trip out to CLink (or Hawks to Soldier Field if it came to that)…but wouldn’t it be a bit weird with Bears featuring a passing Offense and Seahawks leaning on the best D in NFL?

Allen proved winning a SB is of no importance to him. The Chicago bars will be waiting to serve him.

gbmickey says:Mar 26, 2014 2:33 PM

Pure projection by a Packer fan? The difference here is the Packers got rid of Favre and replaced him with someone better making Brett bitter which unfortunately is business. I will always have fond memories of him but better to get rid of a player near the end with an inflated contract than keep him for sentimental reasons. That’s just good business.

You guys on the other hand had a player who just wanted out of the losing mentality. If he thought there was a chance to win he would have stayed but he said he wanted to go to a winner and it clearly wasn’t the Vikings.

hawkthunder says:Mar 26, 2014 3:59 PM

Let me add to comments/stats above re Seattle.

Seahawks Defense only allowed 14.3 pts per game in the regular season & less on SB. That’s 2 TDs people. Whereas Chicago gave away 30 pts per game last year. That’s 5 TDs per game. You can’t win championships by being that sloppy w/your defense and not capitalizing/forcing turnovers. The Broncos and Chicago have to throw up a lot of points b/c they give up a lot of pts.

Seattle’s beatdown of the Broncos was not a fluke and the Broncos just “didn’t have a bad day.” If that were the case, we beat DB preseason 40-10 and again in SB 43-8.

Seahawks shut down PM, shut down the running game (all of it was garbage yardage b/c they got 1 TD) No yards after catch, short yardage passes. While Wilson threw 2 TDs, Percy Harvin 1 TD, Malcom Smith Def. 1 TD and FG. The only Bronco who didn’t go into denial was JElway who immediately is beefing up their defense.

That’s what great coaching and a great team can accomplish. Takes a lot of hard work and watching film. Personally, I don’t think JAllen wants to work that hard!

Congratulations to both the Bears and to Jared Allen- The Bears got one of the best pass rushers ever while Mr. Allen got a chance to play for a Super Bowl contender, and got paid while he did it.

Anyone saying that he chose money over winning a title is either a delusional Seahawks fan, or just not very educated in the matter of football. If it’s the latter, I’ll help you.

The Chicago Bears D was bad last year, but there’s no reason to think that will be anything close to true this year- Did people really forget that all of the Bears best players on D got injured? Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Henry Melton, all pro bowlers the year before, and it doesn’t stop there. Starting MLB Dj Williams, Nate Collins… seriously? The only starters that played bad last year were the safeties- both of which are not likely to be starters again this year. People seem to forget that the year before last, AND THE PAST DECADE, the Bears D was one of the best. It may not return to top 5 form, but there’s no reason it can’t rank top 10-15. Oh yeah, then there’s the Bears offense, which even in year 1 of a new offensive system, was elite, ranked 8, but second in scoring offense, and second only to the Denver Broncos, which did insane things on that side of the ball. With the fixing of the defense and the continuation or even likely improvement of the Bears offense, this team is scary, and I haven’t seen a team this balanced in awhile.

Now Jared Allen comes in, on a line that will now feature Lamarr Houston, Jeremiah Ratliff, Jared Allen, and Willy Young? Sheesh. But that’s not all – with Tillman coming back and a pro bowl corner next to him in Jennings, that pass rush will have more time for Allen to get there then he was ever used to having in Minnesota. I think this heavily compensates for the knock on him “not being able to play in grass”.

Which reminds me: to reiterate what some of my friends above have alluded to — “Bears” and “Defense” have been nearly synonymous terms in the NFL since DECADES before Seattle even discovered their coffee bean and needles.

So the irony of you one-year-wonder bandwagon fanboys lecturing us diehard Bears “superfans” about what a “real” defense looks like is just plain laughable. We were rooting for the likes of Butkus and Dent and Urlacher, defining then reinventing NFL defense while you guys were still spending Sundays playing catch the tuna (or whatever you do) in the fishmarket.

In fact, Bears have been defined by their defense (and ST) for decades…so we have one injury-wracked season in a transition year and suddenly you think you can condescend to us? Have fun with your hangover (or would it be withdrawal?), looking up at Arizona and SF next year, while the Bears return to their usual standard of defensive excellence, except now balanced with offensive firepower, too.

LilTmac2003 says:Mar 27, 2014 5:51 PM

People were so concerned with the play of our safeties b/c of how bad they were, failed to realize that our defensive line was practically non existent.

But now we get to roll the line with Jared Allen, Jerimiah Ratliff, Nate Collins, Stephen Paea, Willie Young, Lamar Houston, and Izzy Idonije.

That’s a pretty decent step up to last season. Bears now have the luxury of drafting a safety, or eve another defensive tackle to bolster that line.

Instead of limiting ourself to drafting one position with out 1st pick, we have options. Options are good.